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| Ranking |
Evidence-Based Practice |
| Description |
Across Ages is a mentoring initiative targeting youth 9 to 13 years of age. It includes four components: (1) elders mentoring youth, (2) youth performing community service, (3) youth participating in a life skills/problem-solving curriculum, and (4) monthly activities for family members. Across Ages can be implemented as a school-based or after-school program. Targeted youth reside in communities with no opportunities for positive free-time activities and few positive adult role models; may be in kinship care due to inability of birth parents to care for them, often because of incarceration or substance use; and have poor school performance and attendance.
The project was originally funded in 1991 by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration’s (SAMHSA) Center for Substance Abuse Prevention (CSAP) as a school- and community-based demonstration research project and was replicated in Philadelphia and West Springfield, MA, from 1995 to 1998. Today, more than 30 replication sites span 17 States. |
| Goal / Mission |
The goal of this program is to enhance the resiliency of children in order to promote positive development and prevent them from engaging in high-risk behaviors such as substance use,
early sexual activity, or violence. |
| Results / Accomplishments |
An outcome evaluation of the program was conducted using an experimental study design. Reactions to situations involving drug use were measured using the Across Ages Youth Survey, a paper-and-pencil instrument. Participants were assigned to one of three conditions: Across Ages, Across Ages without the mentoring component, or a control condition providing no intervention. Reactions to situations involving drug use were significantly better in the Across Ages group than the control group (p = .042). In addition, the composite score on attitudes toward school, the future, and elders was significantly better in the Across Ages group than the Across Ages without mentoring group (p = .002) and the control group (p = .038). Students in the Across Ages group also had fewer days absent from school than those in both the Across Ages without mentoring group and the control group (p = .01). |
| Categories |
Health / Children's Health
Social Environment / Children's Social Environment
Health / Substance Abuse
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| Organization(s) |
Temple University’s Center for Intergenerational Learning |
| Source |
SAMHSA's National Registry of Evidence-Based Programs and Practices (NREPP) |
| Date of Publication |
1996 |
| Date of Implementation |
1991 |
| Location |
City: Philadelphia, PA |
| Primary Contact |
Andrea S. Taylor, Ph.D. Across Ages Developer/Director of Training
The Intergenerational Center
College of Health Professions and Social Work/Temple University
1700 North Broad Street, Suite 412
Philadelphia, PA 19122
215) 204-6708
ataylor@temple.edu
http://templecil.org/
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| For more details |
http://nrepp.samhsa.gov/ViewIntervention.aspx?i...
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| Target Audience |
Children, Teens |
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